My new d-SLR

Wait! What?? Did she say d-SLR, as in digital SLR?! *Gasp!* But I thought she was a film lover! This blog is supposed to be about Old Technologies! Has she gone to the dark side forever?

No, no, no.. fret not my film loving friends, I still adore my film cameras and plan to continue my love affair with them. But I have always wanted a good digital camera for all that practical stuff, like family dinners, Christmas morning with my little nieces, birthday parties with my friends. The kind of stuff that I don't want to miss out on because I am too busy fussing with shutter speed and aperture settings. When I want to capture a moment in a picture, but I don't want to let the moment slip by without enjoying it in the present. This is what I love about a digital. My new digital is a Canon Rebel XS that has a ton of choices in terms of settings in that it can be fully manual or fully automatic so it is extremely versatile for whatever I need. For just an anytime quick shot or a more complex artistic shot. (Thanks Mom & Dad for the birthday present!)

An added bonus to my new digital camera is the increased learning curve about general photography stuff (like depth of field, aperture, etc.) because I have instant feedback and can compare pictures with different settings immediately. As a beginner photographer, this has been wonderful for learning quickly.

So I will mostly stick to film photos being posted here, but may include some digitals if I get any really great shots. I find in general, very little is gained from exclusivity... so why not apply this rule to my blog as well?

Looks like I am going to need a bigger bag for all my cameras this holiday!!

My first experimental shots from the Vancouver Christmas Market this past weekend.

Take me Home, Country Roads...

Every time I go back to Alberta to visit Jeffrey's family, I can't help but sing that song. They live in a rural prairie area where golden tones rule and the sky seems to go on forever. When we first started dating, we always had the debate: Mountains vs. Prairies (me being from the Rockies, him being from the Flatlands). I could never understand how flat could be beautiful... that is until I visited his hometown. There was a point when we were riding our bikes out of town into the farmlands and I was literally stopped dead in my tracks by the vastness of the sky! I never understood just how small the sky could make you feel and how awe inspiring that openness could be.
Now don't get me wrong, I will still choose mountains over prairies any day of the week, but I certainly have a new found appreciation for the beauty of those prairie skies. These photos were taken on a hike over the Thanksgiving long weekend. Although there aren't any sky shots, they certainly captured those lovely yellow tones. All photos taken with my Olympus Pen F.

Happy Birthday to a wonderful man!

Happy Birthday to my best friend, my future husband, and my favourite photo subject...

I love you! 

P.S. Why are you so darn photogenic?!

Ol' Jack Frost

The snow has long since been washed away by the typical winter rains here in Vancouver, and with it, my Christmas spirit. That one weekend of fresh snow really put me in the Christmas mood, but somewhere between all of my different "to do lists", the mood has faded. But luckily the pictures remain!! (And the to do lists have at least gotten shorter).
These shots were from later in the day on that first snowfall, when the sun came out and began to melt away my winter wonderland. All shots taken with my Olympus Pen F.

P.S. I got a very exciting birthday present yesterday, which I will share more about soon :)